The man arrested by San Antonio police in connection to the assassination of Detective Benjamin Marconi claimed he shot him because he was upset about child custody battles.
UPDATE: The San Antonio Express-News reported that Otis Tyrone McKane took time during the 30-hour manhunt leading to his arrest to get married. Bexar County Clerk records revealed that McKane married Christian Chanel Fields about seven hours before his arrest. The couple obtained a waiver from the judge for the normal 72-hour waiting period. The San Antonio newspaper reported that “the license was issued at 9:27 a.m. Monday. He was arrested at 4:20 p.m. with a woman and 2-year-old child, who police have not yet identified, in the car.”
Police officers were escorting Otis Tyrone McKane when a group of reporters asked him why he allegedly killed Detective Marconi.
“I’ve been through several custody battles and I was upset at the situation that I was in and I lashed out at someone that didn’t deserve it,” McKane responded.
The reporters then asked McKane if he had anything to say to Detective Marconi’s family. “Sorry,” he said with his head hanging down.
The comments were captured in a video by KENS5, a San Antonio CBS affiliate.
McKane was arrested in a traffic stop on Monday afternoon on the eastern outskirts of San Antonio, Breitbart Texas reported Monday evening. He was driving on Interstate 10 near Ackerman Road in a different car than the one suspect used when he allegedly shot Marconi.
A female passenger and a 2-year-old child were also in the car when he was arrested.
Earlier in the day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect, Breitbart Texas reported. This added to a $10,000 reward previously posted making the total reward $25,000.
McKane was not driving the vehicle used in the homicide at the time of his arrest. The black sedan was found near McKane’s home. It is not known if police received a tip about the vehicle McKane was driving at the time of his arrest.
Det. Marconi initiated a traffic stop on Sunday near the San Antonio Police Department headquarters. While he was working on the traffic summons for the driver, McKane allegedly pulled up in a black sedan behind the detective’s vehicle. He then walked up to the driver’s side of the patrol car and shot Marconi once in the head, Police Chief William McManus stated. McKane then allegedly reached into the vehicle and shot Marconi a second time before walking back to his car and leaving the scene.
McKane had been inside police headquarters about four hours before he assassinated the 20-year police veteran.
McKane has a previous criminal history, the San Antonio Express News reported. In 2012, the accused cop-killer was charged with bodily injury of a family member. After pleading no contest to the charge, he was sentenced to spend 60 days in the county jail.
His arrest on Monday afternoon ended a 30-hour manhunt.
Detective Marconi was the 127th law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty and the 58th officer to be killed by hostile gunfire, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.